Written by Thomas Slagle
Florida State University, Tallahassee FL
“One cold afternoon in January, I took my dog, Graham, for a walk around a University lake, like I do every week. He is an off-leash dog, and began to run after a gaggle of geese. He jumped in the lake and began swimming straight out after these geese. I started to fear something would happen to him in this cold water, so I began walking after him in the lake. The water was super cold, and I was fully clothed. Without not much time to think, I began swimming after him. I was yelling for Graham and I was yelling for help.
I tread water for a good 10 minutes while fighting to keep my head above the surface and screaming for any sign of help. My body is shutting down from the 40 degree water and I was getting very weak. Graham safely manages to reach the lake bank and started running around looking for anybody.
A Student named Ally happened to be running along the trail and sees Graham. Next, she hears me and ran down to help. At this point, I had been in the cold water for 20 minutes and slowly making my way to finally reach the bottom. I get to the edge, and she pulls me out of the water and calls 911 immediately.
She stayed with me and made sure I was okay until the paramedics arrived. Ally truly saved my life, made sure Graham was okay, collected my belongings, and took care of me till the paramedics arrived. Rushed to the hospital, my body temperature was 94. I had gotten hypothermia and could not stop shaking for hours.
Ally truly is my hero here and quite frankly I’m uncertain if I would still be here without her.”